Blind people feel ‘anxious and outraged’ over Labour’s benefit cuts: ‘I’m struggling as it is’

Blind and visually impaired people have said they are “outraged” and “scared” by the government’s plans for billions of pounds of disability benefit cuts.

Speaking to the Big Issue, one person who is blind and anxious about her future said that the government “doesn’t understand what it’s like to be disabled” and urged Keir Starmer and his cabinet to undergo disability awareness training. 

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently announced the “biggest shake up to the welfare system in a generation”. Proposed changes include restricting the eligibility criteria for the personal independence payment (PIP).

This will impact an estimated 800,000 people, of whom half will lose their PIP entirely. Around 16% of people currently receiving PIP will lose at least some of their benefits.

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Additionally, the universal credit health element will be frozen for current claimants and slashed in half for new claimants.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has expressed fears that some people who are blind or visually impaired may be at risk of losing their benefits, particularly those who do not have expert support while undergoing the assessment process.

Vivienne Francis, RNIB’s chief strategy and public affairs officer, said: “Life with sight loss costs more and a £4.8bn cut to welfare will push many people into further financial hardship while they wait for promised action to deliver improved employment support.”

According to the government’s own estimates, 3.2 million people will lose financial support by the end of the decade, and 250,000 people will be pushed into poverty.

Around one in four blind and partially sighted people in the UK are already not getting disability benefits to which they are entitled, equating to 83,000 people, according to previous research from the RNIB. This is in part due to welfare stigma and the barriers people with sight loss face in accessing benefits.

A DWP spokesperson said: “We have been clear that protecting people in need is a principle we will never compromise on. The social security system will always be there for those with severe health conditions, and we will introduce a new premium for those who will never be able to work.”

The government has said reforms will “unlock work for sick and disabled people who can and want to be in employment – backed by a £1bn support offer to guarantee tailored help into work”.

It claims the plans will help people “live with dignity and independence, whilst making sure that everyone who can realise the benefits of work is expected and supported to do so”.

The DWP launched its consultation into the proposals for welfare reform on Monday (7 April), with disabled people encouraged to share their views.

Stephen Timms, minister for social security and disability, said Labour “inherited a broken welfare system” and wants a “system that genuinely works for disabled people and those with health conditions, as well as the country and the economy”.

The Big Issue spoke to two people who are registered blind, Frankie and Kelly, about their fears for their future as the government plots benefit cuts.

As part of the DWP’s plans for PIP, people will have to score at least four points in one of the daily living activities during their assessment.

Both Frankie and Kelly get the enhanced rate of PIP, and they may not be at risk of losing their benefits, but neither know how much they had scored and whether they could be impacted by the government’s changes. They remain fearful that their financial support could be taken away.

Frankie, 44, North London

I’ve always voted for Labour because they stood for the working class, but I’m really surprised and disappointed with Keir Starmer. I would have expected benefit cuts from the Tories. It’s always the most vulnerable who get hit the hardest. 

I’m struggling as it is, even though I’m getting the full rate of PIP and universal credit. I’m having to rely on food banks. I feel like a failure, but I’m trying to get back into work and I’m volunteering. I’ve campaigned with the RNIB, and I’m a fighter. I’m not going to take it lying down. I’ve lobbied my MP about it and I’m going to give Keir Starmer a piece of my mind.

I actually had to go to tribunal to get the higher rate of PIP. I was barely surviving. It was only when I got hospitalised, because I have PTSD, that I was awarded the higher rate. It was stressful. It was humiliating. I didn’t want to have to go to tribunal. I was almost in tears, but a good friend supported me through it.

I shouldn’t have to keep explaining myself, because my eyesight isn’t going to get any better. I have albinism, and I’ve had that since birth. I have an astigmatism and nystagmus, and I’m photophobic. I’ve been wearing glasses since I was three. I shouldn’t have to keep justifying why I need help.

There are certain things I need extra support with. I can wash myself, but dressing myself is hard because I can’t see if things have holes in them or they are dirty. I find the disability benefits assessments quite patronising. They ask you questions like: ‘How did you get here today?’ It’s like they’re trying to catch you out.

I’ve always wanted to work, but there’s a stigma, and employers aren’t willing to give us a chance because of their own fears and prejudices. They focus on the disability. We have to fight so hard to get anywhere. I’ve got dreams. I need to make a living. I don’t want to have to sit on my backside. And when I signed on, I found it so depressing. I couldn’t stand it. 

But PIP helps me pay for things. I need to pay the bills. I have to pay for my carers.  I’m diabetic and I have to wear incontinent pads, so I have to pay for those. I get medication. It helps me with shopping and getting out and about meeting social groups. It’s not a luxury.

What do they want us to do? Do they want us to just sit at home feeling sorry for ourselves? We already have society telling us what we can or can’t do. We have so many barriers to face. Why are you scrutinising us? I just feel outraged.

The government needs to make tax avoidance illegal and make sure the rich pay their fair share. There’s plenty of money to go into the economy. The whole system is wrong. We’ve got the cost of living. We’ve got wages stagnating. How are we supposed to live? People are relying on food banks.

Kelly, 57, West Sussex

I have so much anxiety about what’s going to happen next. It’s pretty scary. We’re living in a very hostile society, and I just disagree with the whole plan to cut benefits. Will I lose it? Will I lose the whole lot? Will I lose the daily living component? I’m absolutely worried about losing my benefits.

I rely so heavily on PIP and without that, I can’t do anything. I’m totally blind. I need a sighted person to make sure that my food is in date and that my washing is clean – that everything is clean. I need a sighted person on the train with me, or I can’t use the train. Taxis are so expensive. It’s all kinds of things that affect my day to day life. Without it, how am I supposed to live?

I’ve never understood the scoring system for PIP. It is all a bit technical. There must be a fairer way to do it. I felt like I was constantly having to repeat my disability and reframe it. It was extremely difficult. I’m totally blind – that’s my disability. Let’s leave it at that. It was very frustrating filling it in. I had a friend to help me word it right.

It would be devastating if I was to lose my PIP. The government needs to seriously rethink the whole process. They need to talk to disabled people about their experiences when it comes to filling in PIP forms. They need to talk to disabled people about the Access to Work scheme, because that’s not fit to function at the moment.

I’m a trained typist and I’ve also been a medical secretary. I lost two jobs which I had got through Access to Work. For one of them, I needed a screen reader, but it was only on loan. The employer called me and told me they couldn’t let me work anymore. I was crying my heart out. I was only there for a few weeks. It seriously affected me. That scarred me when it came to looking for work.

I think every person in the government should undergo disability awareness training – including the prime minister. They don’t understand what it’s like to be disabled.

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